Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes

Brief Description:
"Bread. The process of bread baking is at once a simple endeavor, yet at the same time it can be one of enormous complexity. The merest of ingredients are required, and these few are easily procured, requiring little intricacy in their preparation. And since so few ingredients are needed or necessary to the bread baker, from one bake to the next not much seems to change. One style of mixer suffices and can mix a full range of doughs. Some couche linens, a few stacks of proofing baskets, a decent scale, a durable work table, a couple of razor blades stuck on slender lames, and a sturdy oven: The needs are few. And yet from the time the grain is planted until baked bread is on the table, the hands and skills of dozens of people have been engaged. Farmers in the field plow, plant, cultivate, and harvest. Grain is transported to the mill to be tempered, ground, sifted, analyzed, and bagged-brought from berry to flour. Flour in the bag is trucked and hefted to the domain of the baker. Here the final magic is performed, for the flour is nothing by itself-it needs the baker to bring it to fulfillment, to coax all the flavor he or she can from the inert grain. The flour, unable to sustain life on its own, is transformed by the hands of the baker into wondrous bread, nurturing and nourishing. What we hold in our hands, months after the original planting of the seed, is the final resolution of the labor of many: a loaf of bread-ephemeral, fragrant, alive."--

Biographical Note:

Jeffrey Hamelman began his baking life in 1976. Over the years he has been a production baker, a bakery owner, and an instructor of baking classes on six continents. His dedication to the good work of baking, and his respect and admiration for the world's bakers, have never wavered.

Recipes ix

Acknowledgements, Changes To The Third Edition and Random Thoughts xi

Preface xiii

Part One Ingredients and Techniques 1

1 The Bread-Making Process From Mixing Through Baking 5

2 Ingredients and Their Function 27

3 Hand Techniques 49

Part Two Formulas and Decorative Breads 77

4 Breads Made With Yeasted Pre-Ferments 83

5 Levain Breads 141

Inserts C-1

6 Sourdough Rye Breads 209

7 Straight Doughs 279

8 Miscellaneous Breads 313

9 Braiding Techniques 401

10 Decorative and Display Projects 429

Appendix A-1

Developing and Perpetuating A Sourdough Culture A-1

Three Important Milling Tests A-14

Flour Additives A-16

Baker's Percentage A-18

Desired Dough Temperature A-20

Yeast Conversions, Fresh To Dry A-22

Dry Yeast Conversions, Ounce To Tablespoons/Teaspoons A-22

Glossary G-1

Bibliography B-1

Epilogue E-1

Index I-1

About The Author AA-1

When Bread was first published in 2004, it received the Julia Child Award for best First Book from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and became an instant classic. Hailed as a "masterwork of bread baking literature," Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread features over 130 detailed, step-by-step formulas for dozens of versatile rye- and wheat-based sourdough breads, numerous breads made with yeasted pre-ferments, simple straight dough loaves, and dozens of variations. In addition, an International Contributors section is included, which highlights unique specialties by esteemed bakers from five continents. In this third edition of Bread, professional bakers, home bakers, and baking students will discover a diverse collection of flavors, tastes, and textures, hundreds of drawings that vividly illustrate techniques, and evocative photographs of finished and decorative breads.